Smart lighting is already available in consumer’s homes, but now the streets of Gloucestershire will also benefit from intelligent, wirelessly controlled lighting.

The deployment is being led by construction firm Skanska, lighting provider Urbis Schréder, and smart city planners Telensa, and will bring 55,000 LED streetlights to approximately 1,000 sq. miles of the UK county.

The streetlights will be wirelessly connected and managed via Telensa’s PLANet Central Management System, giving Gloucestershire County Council complete control across the entire network. PLANet uses telecells embedded into each streetlight, which connect to the cloud-based control app via a number of base stations, also located within the streetlights.

The project not only enables automatic schedules to be implemented, but allows the council to manually alter lighting levels in response to local needs and events. Faults will also be identified at a faster rate, enabling quicker repairs and reducing maintenance costs.

It is also hoped that the smart lighting will provide environmental benefits when compared with the sodium lights currently being used. The project is predicted to lower energy consumption by 7,000 carbon tonnes, which will also generate savings of approximately £17 million for the county over a 12-year period. Light pollution will also be diminished as the LED bulbs produce lighting that is more focused, meaning only the relevant areas of the street remain lit.

“Wireless controls and LED street lights are fast becoming the standard combination because together they deliver the maximum energy and cost savings,” said Telensa CEO Will Gibson. “But more importantly, wireless control enables forward-looking authorities like Gloucestershire to adjust local lighting levels over time to meet changing needs, future-proofing the LED investment.”

Wireless streetlights have already been adopted in other countries, and it is hoped that they can provide the impetus for further smart city projects. For example, the network could be used to introduce other IoT applications such as smart parking or lighting-based analytics.